A.  In addition to all other fees or costs now or hereafter provided by law, the clerk of court in the Thirty-Fourth Judicial District shall collect from every person filing any type of civil suit or proceeding, and who is not otherwise exempted by law from the payment of court costs, a sum to be determined by the judges of the district, sitting en banc, which sum shall not exceed thirty dollars, subject, however, to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Art. 5181, et seq.; and in all criminal cases in St. Bernard Parish, both misdemeanors and felonies, there shall be taxed as costs against every defendant who is convicted after trial or plea of guilty or nolo contendere or who forfeits his bond a sum likewise determined, but which shall not exceed twenty-five dollars, which shall be in addition to all other fines, costs, or forfeitures lawfully imposed and which shall be transmitted each month to the court by the sheriff for further disposition in accordance herewith.  

B.  The clerk of court and the sheriff shall place all sums collected or received under this Section in a separate account to be designated as the judicial clerk’s fund for the Thirty-Fourth Judicial District Court.  The judges, en banc, of the Thirty-Fourth Judicial District shall have control over and administer the fund and all disbursements made therefrom.  They shall cause to be conducted annually an audit of the fund and the books and accounts relating thereto and shall file the same with the office of the legislative auditor where it shall be available for public inspection.  

C.  The judges, en banc, may appoint such law clerks, secretarial, clerical, research, administrative, or other personnel as they deem necessary to expedite the business and function of the court and fix and pay all or any part of the salaries or reasonable expenses of such personnel out of the monies in the judicial clerk’s fund.  In like manner, the judges, en banc, may utilize the monies in the judicial clerk’s fund to pay all or any part of the cost of establishing or maintaining a law library for the court or for buying, leasing, or maintaining any type of equipment, supplies, or other items consistent with or germane to the efficient operation of the court, or to pay for actual expenses incurred, including travel, lodging, tuition, and fees, by any judge or clerk in attending any seminar or conference germane to the proper operation of the court.  

D.  In general, the judicial clerk’s fund is established and may be used for any purpose connected with, incidental to, or related to the proper administration or function of the court or the offices of the individual judges and is in addition to any and all other funds, salaries, expenses, or other monies that are now or hereafter provided, authorized, or established by law for any of the above purposes.  

E.  No salary shall be paid from the judicial clerk’s fund for the Thirty-Fourth Judicial District to any of the judges thereof except as may be paid for administering the fund and then only after prior legislative approval

Acts 1986, No. 47, §1; Acts 1988, No. 862, §1; Acts 1991, No. 15, §1.